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Bonnaroo 2014. It was halfway through Jack White’s thrashing rock and roll set, @808Dave, @JoleneMannina and I knew it would be tough but we had to leave to make sure we were on time for the Superjam ft. Skrillex & Friends! So off we went, leaving our nearly front row spot for a chance to see something amazing happen. As we ran through the farm we finally arrived at The Other Tent with time to spare, or so we thought! Thanks to a fellow Bonnaroovian, he informed us that a push notification announced a switch in for Frank Ocean with the Superjam so off to This Tent we marched. Finally we really had made it! Thanks to some friends we had been tipped off to the remaining unannounced special guests and just knew this was going to be one of the most incredible performances we’d ever witness. And as people who weren’t there soon after found out, it was just that, an epic performance from incredible musicians. Just click play below to see the Danny Clinch directed documentary showing the preparation leading up to this unreal late night evening of music which started out with the “house band” of Skrillex and Big Gigantic with Thundercat on bass, Mike Einziger of Incubus on guitar and Joel Cummins of Umphrey’s McGee on keys. From there it was on with the special guests as Fatman Scoop hyped the crowd on a couple of tracks, Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead sat in for a few, Craig Robinson and Mystikal (yes, really), followed by the ladies of Warpaint, the incredible Janelle Monae, A$AP Ferg, Zedd on drums, Robby Krieger of The Doors, Matthew Shultz of Cage The Elephant, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley and then a four song encore with Ms. Lauryn Hill. It was simply incredible and something I was in awe of. Hands down one of the coolest performances I had ever been witness to. To this day that memory on the farm stands out. If anything it set a new bar for where Superjam’s of the future need to go. Sonny Moore, Paul Peck and the Bonnaroo Crew, bravo and I can’t wait to see what awaits at Bonnaroo 2015 in June! SET LIST and WORDS.

What a year it was for me in music. So good that I don’t want this year to end but excited to see what 2015 has in store. Below (in alphabetical order) are albums I was digging in 2014. I couldn’t limit myself to a number and I know I missed some too but here it is. What were some of yours from 2014?

Ziggy Marley, Fly Rasta
Lee “Scratch” Perry, Back on the Controls
Sean Paul, Full Frequency
Shaggy, Out of Many, One Music
Sly & Robbie & Spicy Chocolate, The Reggae Power
Soja, Amid the Noise and the Haste

I can’t wait until August 19, my birthday and the release of Benjamin Booker’s self titled debut release! Happy Birthday to me! If you don’t know, you need to crank up the volume and press play. This year he’s already toured with Jack White and Courtney Barnett as well as making the rounds on the festival circuit this summer and oh man I can’t wait to see what the future holds for this kid. His future is bright. Give a listen and get down with this guitar whiz.

I was a fan of the Swedish Sisters who make up First Aid Kit since the moment I heard their second album, The Lion’s Roar, became even a bigger fan when I saw them live for the first time and seeing them again this year at Bonnaroo, they were one of my favorite acts at the festival. Needless to say I’m hooked on these girls and after hearing this cover of Jack White’s “Love Interruption” which they performed on Australia’s triple j radio, I am even more in awe of thems. Listen below. Just WOW.

Quite the Wednesday in the festival world as Governor’s Ball, Hangout, Mountain Jam, Shaky Knees, CounterPoint and Big Guava all announced their lineups. With the exception of CounterPoint and Mountain Jam what do they all have in common besides being on the east coast? OutKast as a headliner.

Yes, you read correctly, new music from The Dead Weather!! Click play below to listen to “Open Up (That’s Enough),” the first new track from the rebirthed Jack White band. Click HERE for more words from Consequence of Sound.

Let me break it down like this. I couldn’t make the Outside Lands Music Festival work with my dates but for those going, here are the acts I would be seeing and who you need to check out. Hope y’all going have a great time, especially with all the food and drink to enjoy. And if you see Chefs Sobel and Varley from the Michael Mina stable, tell them I said hey.

Alabama Shakes – yes everyone should know them by now but their live performance, whoa amazing!

Allen Stone – incredible entertainer, unreal voice, a star in music for years to come

Big Gigantic – get ready to get your groove on with these funktified musicians

Bomba Estereo – get your Columbian dancing feet ready

City and Colour – if any of you remember Dallas Green, this is his band

Cory Chisel – been waiting a while to see him live

Die Antwoord – seriously amazing live and at a festival, look out

Dispatch – reunited and rocking better than ever. If you were like me and never had the chance to see them live, now’s your chance

Electric Guest – rising very fast, great entertainers, fun live show

Honey Island Swamp Band – oh yes, these guys are so funky and goofy but fun live

Jukebox The Ghost – This may be the band I am most excited for everyone going to see. AMAZING

Michael Kiwanuka – amazing talent from the UK with a golden voice

MSTRKRFT – P A R T Y

Neil Young & Crazy Horse – do I need to say more! Saw them last in 2001, Rotterdam

Of Monsters and Men – the seven piece Icelandic troupe not only have one of the most popular songs of the year but are incredible live

Passion Pit – at Lollapalooza they delivered an energetic performance for the books, peeling of hits and lots of new material. Get ready to dance

Regina Spektor – I love her voice and am still hoping to see her live one day

Rebelution – if you are looking for a little reggae-rock

Sigur Ros – new album is out, that should be

Stevie Wonder – so jealous, sent Mom and Dad to see him last NYE

Tame Impala – jam on

Tanlines – pop over for a song or two

The Kills – sick duo that will have you feeling it

The Walkmen – a ton of fun live

Thee Oh Sees – are you a fan of The Black Lips?

White Denim – if you’ve never seen them live, get ready to rock out as these Texas boys jam on

Well now that I’ve covered most of the lineup, hahaha, enjoy the show!

I can sum my Lollapalooza experience up quite easy: an incredible time with great friends.

Any chance I get to return to the city of my birth I’m excited but add in a music festival with 100,000 people in Grant Park and you crank it up to 11. This year I approached Lolla a bit different and wasn’t running from show to show. I took the pace down a little and really stepped back to enjoy it a bit more. I was late to some shows which was unfortunate but at the end of the three days I was still stoked about who I saw and just wonder what may have happened if the Saturday afternoon storm evacuation didn’t cancel acts like Alabama Shakes, The Temper Trap, B.o.B. and the band I was most hoping to see, The Dunwells. Props to C3 Presents for acting swiftly to recover and push back start times, reschedule bands like fun., Chairlift, Empires, etc. C3 also did an incredible job of scheduling overall forcing the crowd to pick and choose like I’ve never seen. When you are looking at a mile walk from the Bud Light Stage to the Red Bull Stage, it’s just not really possible to get everywhere you want to be unless you are a marathon sprinter.

Headliners: I have to be honest, you shouldn’t have gone to Lollapalooza just for the headliners. Talented musicians indeed (and ones I like) but you can’t compare The Black Keys, Black Sabbath, Avicii, Justice, Jack White and Red Hot Chili Peppers to last year’s of Coldplay, Muse, My Morning Jacket, Eminem, Foo Fighters and Deadmau5.

My First Show: O Rappa

My Final Show: Technically Jack White but essentially I caught all four final acts bumping to Kaskade, hearing Childish Gambino drop “Heartbeat” and hearing one of my favorite Justice songs, “On’n’On.”

My Moment of Joy: Seeing the rambunctious overfilled crowd on hand for Of Monsters and Men Sunday night time slot.

My Favorite Show: Didn’t actually happen at Lollapalooza. Off-site Of Monsters and Men show on the rooftop of a condo tower for Gilt City’s ‘Better Than Backstage’ party. Thanks to my friend Nicole for making it happen! Seriously one of the top three bands I was dying to see at the festival and here I am just inches away as they rocked out. A tip of the hat to an amazing group of musicians doing big things.

Best Overall Show: Die Antwoord, my second time seeing them and this was just flat out awesome. They had the crowd mesmerized and loving every moment of this high energy set.

Best Bud Light Stage Show: For me, Passion Pit – flat out great performance but easily it was Florence + The Machine, she had at least half the festival goers on hand to hear that incredible voice. I remember the first time I saw her was in a small tent at Bonnaroo and she owned Lollapalooza. Say hello to next year’s festival circuit headliner.

Best Red Bull Stage Show(s): I guess The Black Keys, those guys are just so honed in and solid in front of big crowds.

Best Playstation Stage Show(s): Die Antwoord, Gary Clark Jr.

Best Sony Stage Show: Last year I spent the most time at this stage. This year I only really saw Miike Snow.

Best Google Play Stage Show: The Gaslight Anthem, the Jersey rockers did exactly that making the most of their 45 minute set.

Best BMI Stage Show: Well the only one I actually got to this year was Outasight and he had the crowd bouncing.

Best Perry’s Stage Show: In truth, I didn’t even see a show here, passed by a lot but didn’t get caught up in the pandemonium but the stage setup that may have been the best show. LED bonanza creating quite the visuals.

Overall Stage With The Best Performances: Hands down Google Play, they stacked the deck with this stage and fans responded packing all of these shows. Big time acts like The War on Drugs, Blind Pilot, SBTRKT, Band of Skulls, Dawes, Wale, GIVERS, fun., Washed Out Twin Shadow, Frank Ocean, Of Monsters and Men, The Gaslight Anthem, Hey Rosetta!, The Big Pink, Childish Gambino

Biggest Surprise: How much I enjoyed the Metric show.

Best Legend Show: I just have to say Black Sabbath for the sheer fact that I saw Black Sabbath, even if Ozzy is starring into gigantic teleprompters and not sounding too good.

Random Moment(s) Of Awesomeness: fun. show being rescheduled after the Saturday evacuation and just owning the crowd for a 35 minute set filled with their hits.

Most Entertaining Show:Die Antwoord, if you’ve never seen them, you can’t help but be entertained

Most Disappointing Moment: not getting to see a bunch of acts I was super excited to see for the first time like Milo Greene, First Aid Kit and The Dunwells (the rain ruined that one for me) and some of my favorites like GIVERS, Chancellor Warhol, DAWES.

Next Big Thing: I want to say The Dunwells but the evacuation for the storm forced a cancellation of this show. And I sincerely hope more people discover Michael Kiwanuka; he’s got an incredible voice, great songs and is an absolute treat to listen to live.

Giving it a shot: The Devil Makes Three and I absolutely loved them.

Top Party: I’m giving this to Passion Pit because it was entertaining, full of energy and well I am a fan.

Funky Good Time Show: Gary Clark Jr.

Band I Was Sad To Miss: Sigur Ros

Best Intro: Rahm Emanuel introducing The Black Keys

What Would Have Been Great: Having less scheduling conflicts so I could see more bands

Top Moment: Choosing to skip Milo Greene, Chancellor Warhol, JEFF The Brotherhood and GIVERS for a once in a lifetime moment with Of Monsters and Men on the rooftop with the Chicago skyline serving as the background.

Best Festival Eat/Drink: Uncorked Wine Lounge

Best Place To Cool Off: I didn’t really find one and it was hot and humid

Biggest Waste of Time: The Toyota Crane game thing that totally wasn’t a crane

Evacuation Nation: Wow, getting 100,000 people out of the park in approximately 30 minutes before the torrential storm came in was pretty incredible. Holed up in a steamy Irish Pub with $6 Bud Lights wasn’t ideal but it was festive and one of those random things you won’t soon forget.

Clutch Move: Popping out a little early on Friday night to head over to Big Star, my favorite taco and mescal joint in town.

Tip For Next Year: Coming a day early again and leaving on a later flight on Monday.

More Tips: drink water, more water, sunscreen is your second best friend after water, if you see someone struggling give them a hand or find someone to help.

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